HARD MAN .... Manuel Almunia has
criticised manager Arsene Wenger's transfer
dealings
The Gunners keeper wants Wenger to bring in experienced
players to boost Arsenal's title challenge.
Almunia said: "It's great to have a young team but
youth doesn't give you titles.
"To go a step further, players need to demand more of
themselves, be more professional, braver in big games.
"We need the manager to work harder to get what we
need, the club to make an extra effort to make us more competitive.
We need more than youth."
Almunia's outburst puts him on a collision course with
Wenger, who rejects the idea that simply spending money is the way
forward.
The Arsenal boss, who was criticised by shareholders
after a fourth season with silverware, said: "We have got an
'anti-Real' policy.
"We build on the long term, a bit like Barcelona. There
are two prices today, the price when Real Madrid buy and the market
price.
"We do not need a lot of signings, only if there are
players leaving.
"We have got a young team, which has an average age of
22 or 23, and one which is maturing - even if it can make mistakes
like in semi-final of the Champions League last season.
"I'm fed up with people who think I have £100million in
the bank yet don't want to spend it. How can people think that?
"The pride of the club is having moved to a new stadium
while maintaining the team at the top level."
The Gunners gaffer is also confident that with a little
investment, the current crop have the potential to achieve
success.
He added: "We cannot pump £100m into it, so we must
keep faith in what we are doing as I believe this team does a lot
of things right.
"The team does not need to be transformed. When you go
on a long unbeaten run in the league and reach two semi-finals as
we did last season, common sense tells you that.
"The future looks bright. But I want to add to the
squad and I have identified one or two targets.
"However, identifying players and buying them are two
different things."
Arsenal's second-biggest shareholder Alisher Usmanov
warned this week that the club do not have enough money to finance
an assault on the Premier League title.
Usmanov failed in an attempt to talk the club into a
rights issue to generate funds for a transfer war chest for
Wenger.
In a statement Usmanov's holding company said: "The
board are confident they have adequate resources to strengthen the
squad. We do not share their view."
